Old Zhu nodded in approval, "That's good. The people won't have to think so much, and governing the country will be simpler."

Well, Zhu Xiong Ying's mouthful of words was suddenly choked up. Old Zhu actually quite liked 'keeping the people ignorant'. This can be seen from many of Old Zhu's policies, because Old Zhu didn't like so many 'smart people'; he wanted to govern the country in a simpler way.

“Grandfather, his approach has some Buddhist influences, which is not good!” Zhu Xiong Ying began to emphasize. “It is both morality and religion, a unity of morality and religion. That so-called inner sagehood is somewhat empty and vague. It is said to be able to maintain the rule, but if you interpret it, it will be distorted.”

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at Old Zhu and said earnestly, "From the emperor down to the lowest official, all salaries are called Heavenly Blessings. Heavenly Blessings originate from agriculture, and the salary comes from agriculture. Grandfather, this is not wrong! This set of Neo-Confucianism acknowledges that the salaries of the emperor and officials are actually provided by farmers; it is the farmers who feed us!"

Actually, there's nothing wrong with saying it this way; many people still understand Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism in this way. The result is that it's easily used by those with ulterior motives as the basis for Neo-Confucianism to regulate and constrain the emperor's behavior, even directly criticizing, insulting, and attacking him!

This is not an exaggeration; this was indeed the case during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty in history.

The concept of "inner sagehood" can easily lead many scholars to turn it into a "study of mind and nature," which is internalized within oneself and involves consciously practicing the virtues of a sage and cultivating morality to perfect one's character and personality.

At that time, the other extreme was the philosophy of mind. It easily turned into a style of learning that talked about emptiness and metaphysics and incorporated Confucianism into Zen, which was also favored by the Donglin Party and others.

Although Neo-Confucianism is gaining momentum, Zhu Xiong Ying believes it has not yet reached the point of being a "cannibalistic Confucian code." The principle of "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires," while proposed, has not yet been adopted as dogma by some pedantic scholars; they are not yet so dominant.

Old Zhu remained silent, which could be seen as a clash of ideologies between him and Zhu Xiong Ying. In Old Zhu's view, the Neo-Confucian school of thought was somewhat helpful in maintaining the stability of the country. However, he also felt that Zhu Xiong Ying's words made sense; some people misinterpreted them, which could indeed easily lead some scholars to act recklessly.

Somewhat disinterested, Old Zhu suddenly said, "We can't manage so many things now. We're busy abdicating and moving the capital, and we're about to have a falling out with the court officials. We don't have the energy to deal with these things. You can do it after you've registered. We'll move the capital and abdicate now, and we won't care about anything else."

"What about the matter of being buried alive with the emperor?" Zhu Xiong Ying asked, continuing to press. "I've thought about it. When the concubines have children, we can support them and give them a higher rank. We can also have a prince support them, just like the previous generations."

Old Zhu glared at Zhu Xiong Ying and said, "He is not allowed to leave the palace. In the previous dynasty, remarriage was not restricted."

This is probably due to male possessiveness. The Song Dynasty did indeed not restrict certain types of remarriage. At that time, there were indeed some restrictions, such as prohibiting remarriage during mourning, forced remarriage, and remarriage against one's husband's will. In fact, such things should be restricted in any era.

As for remarrying after one's husband's death, it is indeed considered a loss of chastity, but Zhu Xi did not object to it. He also felt that these things were beyond the prohibition of even a sage. It was Cheng Yi who came up with the idea that "starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a great matter."

The Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism was not solely the work of Zhu Xi; Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Shao Yong, and the Cheng brothers also made invaluable contributions.

Little Zhu ran around happily, but soon got tired. He turned around and pounced on Old Zhu's leg. Old Zhu, of course, happily picked up his chubby great-grandson, knowing the little guy was tired and wanted to sleep.

Don't let Zhu Wenying's usual energetic demeanor fool you; that's just how kids are. One moment they're full of life, and the next they're dozing off, like the power's been cut off, and they just log off.

Seeing her son about to go to sleep, Zhu Xiong Ying was speechless. "Judging by the time, it's time for my grandson to go home too."

Old Zhu nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world and said, "The Crown Princess is here too, it's inconvenient for you all to go back!"

This is ridiculous! Taking your son back to raise him yourself won't be an easy task!